Mold can grow from something as small as a pinhole leak in a pipe to a dramatic flood in your basement. Thriving in warm and humid environments, mold spreads quickly, sometimes within 24-48 hours of water exposure.
This means if your house has flooded because of a natural disaster or even your pipes bursting, then you could have mold damage.
Different types of mold from water damage will continue to grow until you take steps to fix the source of the water issue and you kill all mold. Knowing the signs of water damage can help you mitigate the risk of mold growth.
What Are the Effects of Mold on Human Health?
Mold can cause several symptoms, including:
- Nasal congestion
- Coughing and sneezing
- Headaches
- Sore and scratchy throat
- Itchy, watery, or dry eyes
- Rashes and skin irritation
Mold can cause health issues in anyone. It is especially harmful to people with pre-existing medical conditions. In extreme cases, it can be toxic.
What Are the Different Types of Mold from Water Damage?
Understanding how to prevent water damage can keep you from experiencing these types of mold growth in your home. There are 12 types of mold from water damage with their own unique characteristics.
Alternaria
- Characteristics and Growth Pattern: Velvet-like in texture. Appears as dark green or brown hair.
- Typical Locations: Alternaria can grow anywhere there is dampness. It often appears after water damage in a home or building. It is also commonly found in bathrooms, especially showers, tubs, and under sinks.
- Health Risks: It is the most common allergenic mold. This mold isn’t dangerous in small quantities but can cause allergic reactions, hives, itchy eyes, and asthma symptoms.
Acremonium
- Characteristics and Growth Pattern: Colors range from pink to grey to white. Acremonium starts as a small, moist mold and turns into a fine, powdery substance.
- Typical Locations: Often found in areas of your home where there is condensation – humidifiers, cooling coils, drain pans, and window sealants.
- Health Risks: Exposure to this mold is hazardous and potentially toxic. People often experience vomiting, nausea, and diarrhea as a result, In extreme cases, it can lead to diseases in the bone, immune system, and organs.
Aureobasidium
- Characteristics and Growth Pattern: Pink, brown, or black and ages to a deep brown.
- Typical Locations: This mold thrives on natural fibers. It embeds itself into wood surfaces, old books, or wallpaper and spreads.
- Health risks: Can cause eye, skin, and nail infections.
Chaetomium
- Characteristics and Growth Pattern: Cotton-like textured mold starts as white and then changes to grey or brown and eventually to black.
- Typical locations: One of the most common types of mold from water damage in a home or building. It will grow on wood, ceiling tiles, and drywall.
- Health risks: The mold can lead to skin and nail infections. It can produce toxins that can be especially harmful to people with compromised immune systems.
Cladosporium
- Characteristics and Growth Pattern: Olive-green or brown with a smooth texture.
- Typical locations: Allergenic mold that grows in both warm and cold conditions. Found on fibers in fabrics, wood cabinets, furniture, and carpets.
- Health risks: Known to cause irritations of the eyes, nose, throat, and skin. It can lead to skin rashes, lesions, asthma, and breathing issues.
Fusarium
- Characteristics and Growth Pattern: This mold grows in shades of pink, white or red.
- Typical Locations: Grows in damp areas on carpeting, wallpaper, and other fabrics and materials. It is often found after water damage to the home and can spread quickly from room to room.
- Health Risks: Exposure to this mold can cause skin infections, sore throat, running nose, sneezing, itchy eyes, and dermatitis. An extended exposure can cause life-threatening conditions such as bone infections or brain abscesses.
Stachybotrys
- Characteristics and Growth Pattern: More commonly known as black mold. It has a slimy texture and is found in dark green or black. Highly toxic.
- Typical locations: Stachybotrys grows in areas that have had flooding, prolonged levels of dampness, or long periods of high humidity. Black mold spreads quickly on paper, wood, cardboard, drywall, hay, and wicker. You can also find it in home systems with a water base, such as cooling coils, drains, window sealants, and air conditioning units.
- Health risks: This mold causes severe medical conditions, including difficulty breathing, fatigue, and even depression. Exposure can cause burning sensations in your airways, chest pain, coughing, nose bleeds, fever, and headaches.
Mucor
- Characteristics and Growth Pattern: This white to gray mold grows in thick patches and can be extremely toxic.
- Typical Locations: It likes air conditioning units, HVAC systems, wet carpets, and ductwork.
- Health Risks: Can result in difficulty breathing, respiratory issues, flu-like systems, and fever.
Aspergillus
- Characteristics and Growth Pattern: This mold has long flask-shaped spores. It grows in thick layers in a variety of colors.
- Typical Locations: Dead leaves, compost, and decaying wildlife. This mold gets tracked into homes and buildings on people’s shoes and clothing. Pets can track this mold indoors too.
- Health Risks: Aspergillus causes asthma attacks, lung infections, and other respiratory issues. Certain species of this mold are toxic.
Penicillin
- Characteristics and Growth Pattern: Velvety in texture and blue or green.
- Typical Locations: When these spores become airborne, they travel throughout the building and can be inhaled by occupants. The mold spreads on the wallpaper, carpets, ductwork, and mattresses.
- Health Risks: Penicillin can cause respiratory problems when it grows indoors.
Trichoderma
- Characteristics and Growth Pattern: White with green wooly-textured patches.
- Typical Locations: In the home on wet surfaces, including wallpaper, carpet, and other damp fabrics. It is also often found in air conditioning filters and HVAC system ducts.
- Health Risks: This mold can bring on an allergic reaction, sinus issues, and other health problems.
Ulocladium
- Characteristics and Growth Pattern: Usually black.
- Typical locations: In homes and buildings that have experienced extreme water damage.
- Health Risks: People with allergies or immune disorders can experience severe reactions such as hay fever and skin infections.
What Damage Does Mold Cause?
Mold can cause a lot of damage to structures and surfaces if left untreated. Damaged areas could include:
- Drywall and plaster warping: Since mold breaks down the integrity of materials once it is in your walls, it can cause them to wave or warp.
- Wallpaper damage: Mold spores will eat away at wallpaper adhesive and cause the paper to lift away from the wall as the glue breaks down.
- Hardwood floors and carpet breakdown: Mold growth can break down the hardwood fibers, resulting in warping and soft spots. The molded carpet will be wavy or mushy. If the mold penetrates the subflooring, it can harm the flooring system’s integrity.
- Insulation damage: As insulation in your attic gets wet and grows mold, it will begin to become wavy and break down.
DIY Mold Removal
If you have a mold problem, it is essential to fix the water issue’s source and then kill the mold. Tackling mold on your own can be dangerous. You could be exposed to chemicals and you may cause air quality issues. If you don’t completely kill the mold, it will come back.
What Do You Do if You Suspect You Have a Mold Problem?
If you think you’re dealing with a mold issue, it’s essential to act quickly. When looking for a professional mold removal service, be sure they have experience with mold remediation.
SMRSI offers several services to rid your home of mold and cutting-edge technology to ensure a healthy home, including:
- identifying the types of mold from water damage in your home;
- removal of drywall or structure debris with mold contamination;
- drying equipment to properly dry the space;
- containment and negative air setup for containment and to reduce further exposure.
When your life gets turned upside down, call on ServiceMaster Restoration by RSI. We are prepared to handle calls 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year.
If you think you may have mold in your home, call us now (405) 251-7286 to help you restore your peace of mind.
